TURNER: A BRILLIANT FEELING

27 April 2013

Sam Roberts

Ben Turner spoke of his delight after lifting the Championship trophy this afternoon following City’s 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers.

The former Coventry City man has played a key part in helping City keep eighteen clean sheets within the league this season, and the towering defender is looking forward to the tests that the top flight will pose.

“Yeah it’s a brilliant feeling," said Ben. “It’s something we have been working towards for a long time now and it’s fantastic to finally have the trophy in our hands and medals round out neck.

“I’ve played Championship football for my entire career and it will be nice to get a shot at the Premier League.”

City manager Malky Mackay insisted his side would maintain the integrity of the league with competitive displays in their final few games of the season, and central defender Turner reiterated this point.

“I think the last two games have felt a little strange,” he admitted. “As much as you try and remain professional you are playing against teams who are fighting for every goal and every point. I feel that for both the Burnley game and today we have approached it properly trying to win them both while playing some decent football. We haven’t been beaten in either game and I think that says a lot.

“Next week against Hull, they need to win now to seal promotion, and it will be a game very similar as today’s but with more intensity. It’s last chance saloon for all teams in this league and we will approach the game properly again.”

A fantastic free kick from Craig Noone in the second half sealed a point for City today following Chris Eagles first half opener, with Ben believing Cardiff fully deserved their hard fought point.

“Craig’s been in and out of the side in the second half of the season and he’s desperate to play," Ben added. "He really showed his quality with the free kick today.

“We enjoyed last week after winning promotion and sealing the league title but we didn’t want to come here today and put in a performance that wasn’t worthy of lifting the trophy at the end of the game and I don’t think we underperformed.

“We had the better chances and we probably deserved to win, but we didn’t lose and that kept it a happy occasion at the end of the game.

“Today was a great feeling, I’ve never felt anything like it before. We just missed out last season in the League Cup final at Wembley which would have been brilliant but today was fantastic. The sun was out, the fans were behind us and it was a really good experience.”